Heavy bombardment, and a ground invasion launched three weeks into the war, have reduced vast areas of Gaza to a ruined wasteland and killed at least 21,822 people, mostly women and children, according to the health ministry
Israeli forces heavily bombed the besieged Gaza Strip on Thursday as the centre of fierce combat moves steadily south where hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians are sheltering
Attention has turned to whether the truce will be extended before its scheduled end early on Tuesday morning
In the first major diplomatic breakthrough in the war, Palestinian militants will release during a four-day truce 50 women and children kidnapped during their October 7 raids
Israeli troops and Hamas fighters engaged in house-to-house combat in densely populated Gaza, where the war has sent 1.5 million people fleeing to other parts of the territory in a desperate search for cover
Families of Israeli hostages want Israel to accept Hamas’s proposal of exchanging Palestinian prisoners for the hostages, but Israel’s president made no commitment.
The United Nations estimates Gaza needs about 100 trucks a day to meet the needs of its 2.4 million residents
A Hamas spokesman said ‘even dozens’ of such convoys could not meet Gaza’s needs, especially as no fuel was being allowed in to help distribute supplies
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said ‘we are at war’ and vowed severe retaliation after ordering an extensive mobilisation of Israeli army reserves
Israel also lifted restrictions on civilian movements in communities around the Gaza border on Monday morning